The outside face of an exterior building wall is subjected to the elements and, in particular, moisture (e.g. rain or other water). Accordingly, during the construction of a building, it is imperative that any structure(s) (e.g. lighting, pipes, wires, electrical boxes, vents, windows, and doors) projecting from the outside face must be installed so that the outside face remains waterproof (moisture-proof). Using a pipe as an example of a projecting structure, water tends to travel rearward (from the distal end of the pipe toward the building) on the exterior of the pipe toward and, if not properly waterproofed, into the building (which includes behind any water resistive resistant (WRB) and/or into the building walls). Water entering a building can cause substantial damage.
“Flashing” is a term that generally has been used to refer to thin pieces of impervious material (e.g. rubber, tar, asphalt, synthetic polymers, or various metals) installed to prevent the passage of water into a building from “openings” or “interruptions” (including the intersection of a projecting structure and the outside face) in an outside face of a wall.
Flashing may be installed during construction of a building or retrofitted onto a completed building to prevent water from entering the building. Although there is no standard way to install flashing, the installation of flashing is a multi-step process. Traditional flashing systems use gravity, sealing tapes, or a combination of both to direct water away from interruptions in the outside face. Installed properly, flashing can prevent damage to a building. Flashing that is installed improperly, however, can lead to water entering the building.
Every building has many interruptions from projecting structure and, therefore, installation of flashing can require a significant amount of time and labor. For this reason, there are known systems that attempt to reduce the time and labor burden of the installation of flashing. Examples of this are the QUICKFLASH® products produced by Weatherproofing Products Inc. including the “sub exterior weather-proof flashing panel mount for electrical junction box” described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,984 to Gilleran, the “exterior electrical box waterproofing system” described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,938 to Gilleran, and the “sub-exterior electrical box weatherproofing system” described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,649,835 to Gilleran.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a prior art flashing product 100 and an installed electrical box interruption 110 prior to (FIG. 1) and after (FIG. 2) the installation of the flashing product 100. As shown in FIG. 1, there is a weather resistant barrier 120 over subsiding 122. The electrical box interruption 110 is pre-installed in these figures. (This would generally be the case in remodels. Further, this might be the case for some new construction when the normal construction process is not followed.) The flashing product 100 has an opening (surrounded by rim 102) that is positioned around the exterior of the electrical box interruption 110. Put another way, when the flashing product 100 is installed, the electrical box interruption 110 is surrounded by the rim 102 of the opening of the flashing product 100. The flashing product 100 is then secured using weather resistant barrier tape 130 (FIG. 2). Weatherproofing Products Inc. also produces a flashing product (QUICKFLASH® Part # E-4/0 SB) that is designed to be used with specified electrical 4/0 metal electrical boxes if the flashing product is to be used in electrical applications.